After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future-Chapter 84: Investigation, ’Village Evening

After investing 7 million, Lu Liang didn't make any new moves, leaving the market to its own devices without any further intervention.

He still held a base position, and it was true that major shareholders could check the list of circulating shares, but not now—at least not until the end of today's trading.

Lu Liang had made it known that he intended to be a market maker, and now it was up to the real market makers to decide whether they were willing to put in the effort. They couldn't expect him to simply raise the price for them while they sat back and reaped the benefits—that was neither possible nor realistic.

And with an investment of only 7 million, he was definitely not going to appear on the Dragon and Tiger List. Using his name for publicity was equally impossible.

At this moment, Tang Caide knocked on the door and entered with the additional investment proposal of 20 million for Panda Interactive Entertainment.

Wang Xiaocong held 85% of the shares, contributing 17 million, while Lu Liang held 15%, contributing 3 million.

Tang Caide reminded him, "Mr. Lu, Mr. Wang plans to transfer 40% of his own shares to Redwood in Yanjing after this additional investment."

"Redwood is also his; it's preparation for Series A funding."

Lu Liang was already aware of this because after the funding, the company would no longer be personal; Little Wang was preparing for a subsequent high-level cash-out.

It's not that as soon as he planned to raise funds, he was thinking of running away, because this approach was very common, like not putting all your eggs in one basket.

After investing so much money and effort, it was natural to want to recover the capital first if the price was right.

Without any backup, to travel down this path until the bitter end would be foolhardy, with the likelihood of losing every cent.

"Transfer the money to him this afternoon."

Lu Liang signed the authorization on the remittance certificate. As he looked out the window, the number of company employees had increased to 19, making the office area somewhat cramped.

Even Tang Caide's workstation was only slightly bigger than those of ordinary employees, with no partitions and no real privacy.

Lu Liang asked, "How much longer will the renovations at the New International take?"

"The construction team has given a completion date of August 20. Although the materials are of good quality, they will need ten days to settle and ventilate, and office equipment and furniture also need to be purchased. We probably can't move until the beginning of next month."

Tang Caide paused and then added, "Mr. Yang from New International has given us 45 days of free rent for the renovation period."

At the beginning of the construction of the New International Building, which was designed as a high-end office building, the normal free rent period for renovations was only 15 days.

Fifteen days are often enough to complete partitions and office space planning, but Yang Weifeng still gave a month and a half.

"Next time you see Mr. Yang, thank him for me. Let him know I've been too busy to step away, and I'll thank him in person after we move over."

No sooner had Tang Caide left the office than Chen Jinchun came in with four documents: "Mr. Lu, these two are from Luo Juncheng, these two are from Wen Chao."

One from Beijing University, the other from Fudan—it's no exaggeration to say that five or six years ago, both were the top college entrance exam scorers in their hometowns.

The pride of the favored sons of heaven made them believe that their own research reports could not be inferior to those of the others.

So after conferring, they decided to submit them together so that comparison would reveal whose was better.

"Still, professionals should handle this."

Lu Liang picked up one of the reports and felt a mood lift. The front page was neat, clear, and easy to understand—not like Chen Jinchun's research report, which required guessing while reading.

Chen Jinchun didn't say a word, grinding her teeth with frustration, but could only put on a fake smile to cover her embarrassment.

Each research report had over ten thousand words, and Lu Liang read from morning until afternoon.

By synthesizing both perspectives, he gained a basic understanding of the shared bicycle and video industries.

Starting with the establishment of ofo in December of last year, in just over nine months, 22 enterprises have emerged nationwide. The top five were Mobike, ofo, YouBai, Kuqi, and Yong'an.

Approximately 58,000 shared bicycles had been deployed, with the top three companies accounting for over 68% of the market.

On average, each shared bicycle was ridden 4-8 times daily, primarily during the rush hours of commuting.

In Modu, many subway station entrances can become so crowded during peak commute hours that it's hard to find an available bike.

There's a large market gap that needs to be filled, but continuous bicycle deployments could impact city appearance and traffic order.

Shared bicycles can only serve as traffic entry points and cannot survive independently; eventually, they'll likely be sold off.

Sold to Tencent, or to Ali, or some other Internet power to enhance their products.

If shared bicycles represent a new battleground, then the video industry has been a battlefield since the birth of the internet.

Long videos, short videos, live streams, interactive entertainment, and movie playback—all major internet companies have been vying for dominance for over a decade without a clear winner.

A short video company called Kuai Shou caught his eye, quickly followed by ByteDance, the force behind Toutiao.

Lu Liang downloaded Kuai Shou, planning to experience it firsthand, but after watching just a few short videos, his expression was as if he had seen a ghost.

He saw an online version of a 'village evening gala.'

With phrases like "old irons" and "bro," and a rough video style characterized by distinctive North China padded jackets in bright green or red, it seemed to disregard the Southern audience altogether.

"This seems to be about sharing life as well, just sharing life in the north."

Lu Liang pondered as he pulled up the data on Kuai Shou. Last year it was valued at 850 million US dollars, with Redwood Capital leading the B round of financing.

By June this year, the registered users of Kuai Shou had already broken through the two hundred million mark; he knew he definitely couldn't get a foot in.

Unknowingly, it was already three o'clock in the afternoon, and the A-share market had ended today's trading.

The stock price, 24.08 yuan,

fell by 0.22%, essentially marking a day of no significant events.

Tomorrow's opening

would probably reveal the direction things would head.

Lu Liang called Chen Jinchun, asking her to bring Luo Juncheng and Wen Chao into his office.

After reviewing four research reports, he already had an answer in mind for the choice of secretary.

The two of them sat anxiously in front of Lu Liang, faces tense with nerves, waiting for the final verdict.

"Wen Chao, move over next to Assistant Chen tomorrow."

There was an empty space next to Chen Jinchun's desk, which Lu Liang had reserved for his secretary.

There were two phones on his desk, one for calling Chen Jinchun, the other for the secretary.

Previously, both were answered by Chen Jinchun, but now the other had also found its rightful owner.

"Thank you, Mr. Lu. I will continue to work hard," Wen Chao managed to say, containing his excitement as he bowed deeply.

"Mhmm, you may leave."

Lu Liang looked out the window. Su Wanyu had already arrived; it was time to start learning a foreign language for the day.

"Alright, Mr. Lu."

Wen Chao left the office, but Luo Juncheng didn't budge. He stared at Lu Liang with resentment, "Mr. Lu, why? Where did I fall short?"

Over the past more than ten days, he had almost traveled all over Modu.

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He even camped out at a subway entrance before dawn just to count the daily rides of a shared bicycle, from before daylight until late at night.

During these days, he had not had a single night of peaceful sleep. If he wasn't conducting research, he was on his way to it.

He believed that what Wen Chao had done was definitely not better than his own work, but he couldn't understand why he still lost.

"Mr. Lu, then I will head out first."

Wen Chao's brows tightened, the words almost reached his lips, but he didn't speak.

Just moments ago, he too was curious about what had made him win, but now it seemed self-evident.

Who Lu Liang wanted to choose was up to him; even if it were a little rooster that he picked, they had no right to question it.

Because of the special nature of the secretary position, their main task was to implement Lu Liang's will, without the need for too many ideas of their own.

"Mhmm, go ahead."

Lu Liang nodded slightly, looking toward Luo Juncheng, "Little Luo, if you leave now, I can pretend nothing happened, but if you're dissatisfied with my decision, you can go to finance to collect your internship salary now."

"I don't need the salary, but I want to know the reason."

Luo Juncheng had made up his mind; if he couldn't be Lu Liang's secretary, he didn't want to waste time at this company.

Lu Liang smiled wryly, speaking frankly, "Your market research report was indeed very detailed, but it overlooked that research needs to be objective. It contained too many personal thoughts."

Kuai Shou, Toutiao, ByteDance were all results of Luo Juncheng's research, and he was the one who made Lu Liang aware of their existence.

Luo Juncheng was talented, but not suitable to be a secretary.

Lu Liang planned to observe him for a while and might find an important role for him in the future, but it seemed unnecessary now, so he didn't mind giving him an explanation.

"Mr. Lu, thank you."

Luo Juncheng smiled bitterly, clearly aware that he had added too much of his own bias.

His main intention was to showcase his unique insight into the industry, but he hadn't anticipated it would backfire.

Suddenly, Lu Liang called him back, his voice cold, "Go to finance to collect your salary. When you're working, don't act like a child; remuneration is a respect for your labor."

Luo Juncheng fell silent, gave a deep bow, and there was a bit of regret in his heart. He vaguely felt as if he had missed something.

"Call Miss Su in," Lu Liang said, no further words needed.